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Trump presses for similarities with allies at G7 summit

President Donald Trump meets with French President Emmanuel Macron during the G-7 summit, Friday, June 8, 2018, in Charlevoix, Canada.

SOURCE: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Trump presses for similarities with allies at G7 summit

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Updated: 7:04 AM CDT Jun 9, 2018

LA MALBAIE, Quebec —

President Donald Trump charged into the Group of Seven summit at odds with allies over U.S. trade penalties and then tried to ease tensions with friendly banter. He has made vague claims of progress in talks about the new tariffs, but details are scant and clear differences remain.

Other countries "have been taking advantage of the United States on trade," Trump said, laying out his fundamental grievance as he joined leaders of major industrialized nations assembled at a Canadian resort for the annual meeting.

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He stirred things up even more by suggesting the G-7 welcome back Russia, ousted from the group after it annexed Crimea.

Trump on Saturday planned to attend a morning event focused on gender equality before departing for Singapore and his summit Tuesday with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. The president intended to skip G-7 sessions on climate change, clean energy and ocean protection.

Trump's recent moves, building on 18 months of nationalist policymaking, have left him out of step with the G-7 and prompted speculation that the group could fracture into something more like the "G-6 plus one."

But in meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump stressed his friendships with the allies while insisting he wanted to see changes on trade.

Trump bantered easily with Trudeau, joking that Trudeau had "agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers." And he emphasized a "good relationship" with Macron, saying they sometimes have a "little test" on trade, but predicting a positive outcome.

Still, the disputes hardly faded away.

Trump railed against trade deficits and said he may pursue separate trade deals with Canada and Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada would prefer to renegotiate the three-way deal

Asked if Trudeau was upset that Trump would be leaving the summit early, Trump joked, "He's happy."

Macron said he and Trump held "open and direct" discussions, adding that he thought there was a way to get a "win-win" outcome on trade.

Both sides suggested some progress in NAFTA talks. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they were "close to a deal," but added that there was also discussion of shifting to a bilateral deal. A Canadian official said the leaders discussed accelerating the pace of the talks.

Other members of the G-7 are Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain. The European Union also attends.

Trump's relations with the others have hit such a low point that it was uncertain whether the seven countries can agree on a joint statement of priorities at the conclusion of the meeting. Macron said Thursday on Twitter, "The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a 6 country agreement if need be."

Trump said he thinks the group will produce a joint statement.

Before arriving at the Quebec summit, Trump injected fresh drama by asking why Russia wasn't included in the group.

"They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table," he said.

Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea and support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.